With Toby on here, you obviously have the boardoff master. You also might want to ask this guy. I have no idea what kind of stretching regiment Dimitri does, but it must be significant. I have been working on my flexibility this winter with specific boardoff maneuvers in mind hoping it will pay off when the water warms up here.

BTW Flybykite, you are my hero with a kiting schedule like that Many of us only dream of being able to practice that much.

I am going to try to make a PVC grab handle. If it is turns out descent, I will post pics and the details.

Love this post, love the talk on this awesome part of the sport. Get sick of hearing about riding down the face of a wave doing a ...wait for it...a cutback ... did that for years on a surfboards surfing....so what!

Ok so some progression today...no boardoff but really dialed in the one footers. Landed 90 percent and did around 40 of them just to drill it in. So I was wrong about the takeoff needing to be before 12. I found if the takeoff is slightly after 12 it gives me way more time and lift as the kite travels back across and landings can be a bit slower which I prefer while learning new kicks. Anyway I found my balance with the one footers but as soon as I take the board off....arrrrgh!!! It's my new mission. I'll have it in one week or less.

On my DVD I will also talk about jumping, and how the kite should move.You need power, than just a small movement of the kite is needed. This way you keep the control.Too much movement makes the jump less controlable and ends up in dangling around.

Great to hear you progressed! Keep practising! And make sure to make it look stylish with body tension and holding positions as long as possible. Use the time in the air!

KYLakeKiter wrote:I have been working on my flexibility this winter with specific boardoff maneuvers in mind hoping it will pay off when the water warms up here.

What kind of stretches are you doing? Right now, if do the regular standing stretch (bend over with legs straight, feet together, and try to touch my toes) my finger tips are still 6 inches above the floor Maybe my legs are too long or arms too short... Hopefully if I start stretching every day this will improve and I'll be able to reach that board handle by summer!

Back then, when I had long pants over the wetuit, I could also touch my toes, just like in shorts...But on the water putting the board back on was frustrating!Once I started to use shorts over the wetsuit, it was much better.Why? Because when you go down bending your knees, there was too much resistance.Here you have to stretch and get flexibility, by pulling the legs towards you!